Tea is the national drink of China and Japan; and so far back as 1834 Professor Johnston, in his "Chemistry of Common Life," estimated that it was consumed by no less than five hundred millions of men, or more than one-third of the whole human race! Excluding China, England appears to be the largest consumer of tea, as shown in the following table compiled by Mr. Mulhall, and printed in his "Dictionary of Statistics:"-- _Consumption of luxuries per inhabitant per year._ +--------------------------+-------------------+ | | Ounces. | | +---------+---------+ | | Coffee. | Tea. | +--------------------------+---------+---------+ | United Kingdom | 15 | 72 | | France | 52 | 1 | | Germany | 83 | 1 | | Russia | 3 | 7 | | Austria | 35 | 1 | | Italy | 18 | 1 | | Spain | 4 | 1 | | Belgium and Holland | 175 | 8 | | Denmark | 76 | 8 | | Sweden and Norway | 88 | 2 | | United States | 115 | 21 | +--------------------------+-------------------+ CHAPTER II. THE CULTIVATION OF TEA. Description of the tea-plant--Indigenous to China--Introduced into India--Work in a tea-garden--Tea-gatherers in China--A Chinese tea-ballad--How tea is cured--How the value of tea is determined.